JOURNAL

Super excited to announce the

2nd printing of the Brian Wonders Storybook!

This new edition will be a super compact version of the original storybook and will include a 4-page set of colorful new illustrated stickers. I’ve been working on these for a while now and am excited to start sharing some of the work that went into this new batch and to finally start rolling these little guys out! Pre-selling here. These were supposed to release over the holidays, but I think it has been worth pushing their release… I can be a little obsessive about details and it took me a while to get those just right.

Q&A with Victor Robert the Illustrator Creator

This is the dust jacket proof, which will be French-folded onto the hardcover.

Q: Victor, you already released a Brian Wonders Storybook, why are you releasing a second batch and doing it all over again?

VR: Good question. I couldn't help it. With the First Edition Brian Wonders I printed a micro batch of 250 copies -- each storybook came individually signed, numbered with a custom-made slipcover, and for a bunch of reasons they went out to a very limited audience of family, friends, and collectors. But I love these books so much that I really want to see them in more people's hands. So I decided to run a 2nd printing, this time printing 1000 copies. As an independent artist, I had to change a couple of things in order to make this 2nd run feasible. This 2nd run of storybooks have been repackaged and streamlined and I hope they do reach a wider audience.

Actual sticker

Q: Aside from the number of copies, did anything change from the First Edition to this Mini Sticker Edition?

VR: Yes -- as the name implies, this Mini Edition batch is super compact and smaller in size -- the original storybooks are 12" square, and these new ones are 7" square. I also went through and made a few adjustments to the illustrations... couldn't help it... though most illustrations remained unchanged. This new batch will also include a set of super cool stickers!

Brainstorming sticker ideas...

Q: Oooh! I love stickers. Tell me about them.

VR: These stickers are special -- they are spot illustrations that I designed to work into the pages the storybook… they are a little bit magical because once they are dropped into the illustrations, their edges magically disappear and they become part of the illustrated spreads. I loved stickers as a kid and thought these would be a cool way of making the storybook interactive. Each storybook includes 4 sheets of stickers, totaling over 50 stickers; they are non-permanent and can be reused.

Q: Did you add words to this new edition? Or is the storybook still a book without words like the original?

VR: I love the idea of a storybook without words where kids can imagine, tell, or write their own stories, so I kept this edition without words as well. Maybe in the future, I will release an edition that includes words here and there.

Q: Are you having a launch party for this?

VR: Yes, but that’s in the works. Probably a summer time thing. At the moment the storybooks are pre-selling online here. I’m about a month out from starting to ship.

The installation is textural and gliding your hand across its shimmering sequin skin is highly encouraged.

Illustrated Pillows

Featuring characters and colors from the storybook including Pinky, available in the shop.

Jonathan Guzman normally makes gowns for celebs but for this project he created the sequin skin for Pinky. My partner in crime. Check out my IG to see Pinky as a work in progress.

Snapbacks from the Launch Collection feature Bash the Pirate Bear. A gradation of grey caps stitched with 3D embroidery in contrasting pink and neon colors. Edition of 100, number stitched on the inside.

Shop.

Luna Character Figures, available for spring/summer 2017. Edition of 250. Pre-order here.

For my launch I'm bringing the storybook world of Brian Wonders to life by creating a giant pink blowfish of course. Here's a bit of a how-to for anyone who wants to create their own at home.

Step 1 -- get your hands on a giant balloon. This will be the main body of the fish. Apparently an 8 foot balloon can lift up to 15 lbs. when filled with helium.

Step 2 -- Get your hands on some sequins. I headed to the Fashion District here downtown and found this cool shimmery fabric and thought it would be way too much disco, but then I decided that was a good idea. Sequins are notoriously heavy as many of you know and the yardage required to cover this fish may force me to rethink the helium angle... she may be too heavy... still, she needs to be suspended...

Step 3: Bring on talent. This is Jonathan, he is a fashion designer and an expert pattern maker and normally he creates elaborate wedding gowns for celebs. For this project, he's creating Pinky's sequin 'skin'. I told him a good starting point would be to pretend he was creating a wedding gown except instead of a celebrity it would be for an 8 foot blowfish.

Step 4 -- Foam. Lots of foam. Here I'm using long strips of it to create top lip and figure out proportions and placement.

Step 5 -- Schematics. This should actually be closer to step 1. Here's how I broke down the fish into basic shapes before cutting the shapes out of foam. The tall long one represents the foam shape for the lips. The rhomboid shapes are my guides for the fins.

Step 6 -- Get a room. It got a little tight in the studio so we shifted to an empty retail space on 5th Street. You can see the foam has been sculpted into crude fins and we are laying out their position. Jonathan will then take measurements and make a pattern of the whole thing once we finalize their placement.

Step 7 -- Get some sleep or you'll find yourself doing the dance of the seven veils. You can see Pinky in the background taking shape but much more work is still ahead. More to come... In the meantime RSVP to my launch downtown don't miss Pinky's debut.

Just wanted to share a little bit of this work in progress. It's one of my favorite illustrations in the storybook, and I'm making it my first limited edition print. Am feeling a little bit OCD because I started going back into the illustration and making adjustments to the original, but couldn't help it. It's therapeutic.

These are a few of the colors I'm using... mixing Winsor Newton gouache with Liquitex acrylic paints with Acryla gouache. A pinch of that opera pink really makes things pop.

Here you can see the comparison... a few of the adjustments I've made... I addded more blond hair creeping into the nearby porthole and have been refining the image overall with accents.

You can always tell when The Anime Expo is in town. Color and manga magic fills the streets of Downtown LA. Naturally I'm drawn to this... I brought my camera with me and snapped a few pictures. I'm using a special Brian Wonders lens which adds more magic and sparkle to each image the longer the shutter is held open. I'm still playing with the settings, but here's a few of my favorites.

Got a little starstruck it's Hatsune Miku. If you don't know who she is click on her link, it'll take you to a youtube. Basically she's a giant anime hologram singer who sells out concerts all around the world. She's rendered real time, dances and flips her twintails on stage... sort of in the world of Gorillaz. Fantastic.

Last weekend I turned my studio loft into a photo stage for a collaboration with LA streetwear designer Victor Perez, of DiSnapback. His idea was to shoot his summer collection surrounded by my illustrated wall and feature my Brian Wonders pillows and storybook.

Spent the weekend scoping out the pools and garden mazes and cabana castles and couldn't help being inspired by the surroundings... I wondered what if the gardens had a lazy river running through them. I wondered what if the infinity pool went on for infinity. So I sketched them out.

Limited edition postcards and pillows are in production and will soon be added to my Brian Wonders Shop. Follow my IG @brianwonders or join my mailing list to receive special offers and updates on gifts.

Still feeling rejuvenated and a little blissed out from my weekend at Esalen Institute in Big Sur. I highly recommend it for hot springs and meditation. The drawing below shows how I was feeling moments before I got my cortical fields re-aligned. I'm all good now.

Luna comes to life whenever Brian is especially bored. Luna leans in and whispers a magical plot into his ear. This time he has pirates in mind... and a kidnap. Off to the deep end they go. Double tap or hold on Luna to copy the gif, then paste to send him off on twirling adventures.

Here's a little behind the scenes of the making of Luna. I'm modeling her in 3D using Maya. And here's a few early sketches of Luna, including the final illustration from the storybook. Currently working on a limited run of designer toys of this little guy as well as some more animations.